Treason

Treason, the crime of betraying a nation or a sovereign by acts considered dangerous to security. In English law, treason includes the levying of war against the government and the giving of aid and comfort to the monarch’s enemies. It is also treason to violate the monarch’s consort, eldest unmarried daughter, or heir’s wife.

In the United States, treason was defined restrictively by the framers of the Constitution. History had taught them that men in power might falsely or loosely charge treason against their opponents; therefore, they denied Congress the authority to enlarge or reshape the offense. Treason against the United States “shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them aid and comfort.”

The Japanese law of treason places special emphasis on acts designed to frustrate the country’s alliances with other powers. This is mainly a consequence of Japan’s renunciation of war after World War II. A Japanese citizen may thus be punished for advocating war against another nation. See alsosedition.

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crime against the state. Though sedition may have the same ultimate effect as treason, it is generally limited to the offense of organizing or encouraging opposition to government in a manner (such as in speech or writing) that falls short of the more dangerous offenses constituting treason.

the law as it has developed in Japan as a consequence of a meld of two cultural and legal traditions, one indigenous Japanese, the other Western. Before Japan’s isolation from the West was ended in the mid-19th century, Japanese law developed independently of Western influences. Conciliation...